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Going through motions at Khadr's Gitmo 'trial'

Hulking former U.S. Army interrogator Damien Corsetti once believed in his commander-in-chief's war against terrorism and did what he said was asked of him at the U.S. prison in Bagram, Afghanistan.

In this photo reviewed by the U.S. Military, relatives of victims of the 9/11 attacks arrive in Guantanamo Bay to observe the hearings. From bottom: Lorraine Arias Believeau, Jim Riches, Joe Holland and Andrew Aria. (BRENNAN LINSLEY / AP PHOTO)

GUANTANAMO BAY — Damien Corsetti has come here to help exorcise some of his ghosts.

The hulking former U.S. Army interrogator once believed in his commander-in-chief's war against terrorism and did what he said was asked of him at the U.S. prison in Bagram, Afghanistan.

One of the captives held there was Canadian Omar Khadr, who was then 15 years old and recovering from chest wounds when Corsetti befriended him in the summer of 2002. Corsetti wasn't Khadr's interrogator but hopes he can help get him released by testifying about what happened during the Toronto-born Khadr's time at Bagram, before he was transferred here.

"I firmly believe it was torture and unfortunately I took part in it," he says, rolling up a pant leg to reveal the tattoo he got after George W. Bush was elected a second time in 2004. Across his right calf is the Statute of Liberty, crying, holding a gun to her head. "I was a believer at one time, I was. I guess this is just me trying to make it a little bit right. You know? Maybe get some closure to it. We'll see."

Jim Riches flew here Saturday with his own harrowing memories. The retired deputy chief for the New York Fire Department spent six months after the 9/11 attacks searching ground zero for his son's body. In March 2002, he helped carry the remains of his 29-year-old son, also a firefighter, out of that twisted metal pile on a flag-draped stretcher.

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Riches came to see the five prisoners who boasted of planning those attacks and have asked to be put to death. He hopes they will.

In hearing rooms today, Martin Luther King Day, when U.S. courts on the mainland are closed, these two cases will unfold.

They exemplify the legal challenges and emotional and political high stakes that incoming U.S. President-elect Barack Obama will face in dealing with this place, which has become a worldwide symbol of all that went wrong with the Bush administration's war on terror.

While it's widely anticipated that one of the new president's first acts will be to order this prison closed and halt the 21 war crimes trials the Pentagon is pursuing, it was business as usual here this weekend.

Journalists, witnesses, court staff and five relatives of 9/11 victims were flown from Washington Saturday night. Security preparations are underway to transport Khadr and the alleged 9/11 co-conspirators to their separate courtrooms.

Just what will happen today is uncertain. It was supposed to be the start of pre-trial hearings concerning Khadr's statement to interrogators. The military judge would be asked to decide if methods used during questioning were considered "coercive" or crossed the line into torture. The rules governing the military commissions permit the use of coercive techniques to extract statements, although exactly what that entails is not described.

But in a strange legal turn, the Pentagon's official who oversees the trials quietly withdrew all the charges last month and then reinstated them last week. Defence lawyers called the move a ploy to force alleged Al Qaeda mastermind Khalid Shaikh Mohammed and his co-accused to be arraigned again – and plead guilty – which would be seen as an 11th hour victory for the outgoing Bush administration.

No one seems to have a clear idea what it all means. What does seem almost certain is that Khadr will not be going to trial in a week to face charges of murder for allegedly fatally wounding Sgt. Christopher Speer. The Pentagon has also charged him with attempted murder, spying, providing material support for terrorism and conspiracy.

If Obama withdraws the charges, then Khadr will either have charges laid in a U.S. criminal or military court, or a diplomatic arrangement will be made to send him home.

Last week, Prime Minister Stephen Harper said he would not interfere and would wait to see what transpires this week. He reiterated the government's oft-repeated line that Khadr, now 22, is "charged with serious offences." Harper's spokesperson told the Star, that there were no plans underway to bring Khadr to Canada.

"(Harper's) public comments have been as strident as ever," Khadr's Pentagon-appointed lawyer Navy Lt.-Cmdr. Bill Kuebler said last night, adding he would be "utterly shocked" if Obama did not withdraw Khadr's charges. "The ball is really in (Harper's) court now to take this issue up and work out some sort of an arrangement with the U.S. government and with us that would bring Omar Khadr back to Canada under conditions that are good for Omar and would make Canadians comfortable."

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